Withings has joined the growing club of iPhone apps that support iOS 16’s Live Activities feature. The feature puts a persistent status update on the Lock Screen of all iPhones running iOS 16. iPhone 14 Pro support goes further with the always-on display and Dynamic Island.
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Zac Hall is 9to5Mac Editor-at-Large with a focus on technology news, product reviews, and analysis. Zac previously served as 9to5Mac Editor-in-Chief, hosted over 400 weekly episodes of the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and has been a member of the 9to5Mac family since 2013. Zac has over a decade of experience in technology journalism, including as a tech columnist for the Clarion-Ledger newspaper, part of the USA Today network.
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PSA: Ted Lasso season 3 finale (and likely series finale) on Apple TV+ will drop at a different time this week
Ted Lasso super fans like me have been watching episodes of season three as soon as they land on Apple TV+. For the season finale (and possible series finale), the last episode will go live a little later than every other episode.
Expand Expanding CloseAudio Hijack for Mac can now run auto speech denoise with Machine Learning
The fine folks at Rogue Amoeba released an all-new version of the excellent Audio Hijack app last year. Today the sound capturing software is gaining three new features, thanks in part to Machine Learning on the Mac.
Expand Expanding CloseThere’s a new software update awaiting Apple Watch users
Apple has released a new software update for Apple Watch that all users should download and install today. The update is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra.
Expand Expanding CloseLisa documentary uncovers the surprising final days of the Mac’s predecessor
The Verge has published a new half-hour documentary that dives into the origin and obsolete status of Apple’s Lisa computer platform. The ’80s were something else. We associate 1984 with when the Macintosh revolutionized personal computers, but the Lisa is another story.
Expand Expanding CloseOhio police credit Apple Watch for alerting them to car crash over the weekend
Police in Ohio are crediting the Apple Watch with notifying them of a fatal car crash that occurred over the weekend. Sadly, the car crash left one person dead and another person in critical condition. The cause of the crash is still being investigated, but police in Columbus, Ohio, say they used a combination of technology to locate the incident.
Expand Expanding CloseApple mixed reality headset display specs leak ahead of imminent announcement
The tech community is collectively on the edge of our seats as we zoom toward the expected unveiling of Apple’s mixed reality headset. With just days to go, display analyst Ross Young has shared what he believes will be the specs for the two displays found inside the headset.
Expand Expanding CloseApple releases Apple Music Classical for Android before iPad or Mac apps
After buying Primephonic in 2021, Apple premiered Apple Music Classical on iPhone at the end of March. Starting today, Android users with an Apple Music subscription can also tune in to the classics.
Expand Expanding CloseRoulette is a new way to surf your favorite parts of the web on iPhone
Before streaming video surfaces took over, channel surfing was one of the great joys of watching TV – even if you never found something to watch.
Similarly, there used to be lots of ways to surf the web, searching for some new discovery. Stumble Upon is a great example. Every click would land you somewhere new. You might even become a regular visitor of whatever site you end up finding.
Reddit and Twitter eventually became where links lived, but without the kind of random nature of “flipping through channels” on the internet. Web Roulette is a new app from the designers of Clear and Heads Up that restores the randomness.
Expand Expanding CloseApple promoting WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge winners, award includes AirPods Pro and special pin pack
Apple is showcasing three WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge winners who submitting original app playgrounds using Apple’s Swift developer language. The highlighted submissions include app playgrounds for strengthening eye muscles, sports and filmmaking, and learning about dinosaur fossils. Winners have also been showing off their swag that comes along with the invitation to attend WWDC in person and online.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Music VR and the mixed reality headset
I spent part of Friday night attending a concert in virtual reality. It wasn’t very good. By this time next week, however, Apple is expected to have already unveiled its mixed reality headset. I’m hoping part of the pitch includes Apple Music.
Expand Expanding CloseThere’s still one AirPower feature Apple should release
Ah, AirPower, Apple’s ambitious wireless charging mat unveiled in September 2017 and canceled in March 2019. Who could forget the unreleased product that never even got a price tag?
Multidevice Qi chargers and Apple’s MagSafe technology have long since made AirPower look basic and dated. Even Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger hasn’t caught up with fast charging capabilities on newer devices.
Still, there’s one AirPower promise that only Apple could fulfill to make the canceled wireless charging mat completely obsolete while improving another product.
Expand Expanding CloseHow much would you pay for a more premium iPad mini?
Taking a break from Apple headset hype, let’s talk about the iPad mini. Apple brought the 7.9-inch Home button iPad mini into the modern era with the 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display version in September 2021.
Available in four colors, the A15 chip-equipped iPad mini hardly feels dated with performance on par with that of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14. If anything, an updated iPad mini could satisfy a lot of fans wanting a more premium model that could be sold alongside the current iPad mini 6.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Card promo offering up to $125 Daily Cash reward to promote ‘Family’ feature
Apple Card holders can earn up to $125 in Daily Cash rewards thanks to a limited-time promotion. The campaign is focused on Apple Card holders who have taken advantage of the Apple Card Family feature.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Pay director in charge of Tap to Pay partnerships departs company
There’s a new name to add to the list of recently departed corporate Apple employees. The executive in charge of managing Apple Pay partnerships with banks and credit unions in the Americas is leaving the company. The departing director has also overseen Apple’s year-old Tap to Pay feature.
Expand Expanding CloseApple has been openly building technology for its new mixed reality headset for years
Apple is widely expected to introduce its long rumored mixed reality headset as part of WWDC 2023. This comes as a surprise to few in part because Apple has been singing the praises of augmented reality since at least WWDC 2017. That’s when Apple began laying the groundwork for technology used in the headset through developer tools on the iPhone and iPad.
Expand Expanding CloseApple shutting down free ‘My Photo Stream’ feature that originally launched with iCloud
It may be news to many that Apple’s “My Photo Stream” feature was still alive and kicking, but the real news today is that Apple is pulling the plug on the free iCloud feature this summer.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Watch widgets sound great, but hopefully Live Activities come, too
Glancing at notifications has always been a big part of the Apple Watch, but there’s a new kind of notification that isn’t really on the Apple Watch. Live Activities, the new notification type designed for frequent updates, debuted on iOS 16 for all iPhone lock screens and iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. Live Activity alerts are fantastic on the phone, but they amplify just how out of date data can be on the watch.
Expand Expanding CloseiOS 17 feature request: Take me to this photo
This week we heard about a new way Apple plans to let us use the iPhone 14 Pro always-on display in iOS 17. If you’ve ever wanted your iPhone to present more info panels in landscape, well, you’re in luck.
I hope there are more updates to customizing the standard Lock Screen as well. Specifically, there’s one thing about the Photo Shuffle version of the Lock Screen in iOS 16 that I hope changes in iOS 17.
Expand Expanding Close9to5Mac Happy Hour 435: iOS 17 smart display features, Apple headset price expectations, WWDC schedule hints
Benjamin and Chance talk about the released WWDC schedule, and how they expect the conference will play out in light of a new platform launch. Apple headset price expectations continue to be set with a supposed bill of materials analysis topping $1600 in component costs. Final Cut and Logic launch on iPad, and there’s rumors of brand new ‘smart display’-esque features coming in iOS 17.
Sponsored by Ladder: Go to Ladder.com/HappyHour today to see if you’re instantly approved.
Expand Expanding CloseFigma just launched its own Freeform app for iPad with FigJam
Apple left it to third-party developers to create whiteboard apps on iPad for years. Then it made one out of the blue called Freeform in iPadOS 16. iPhone and Mac versions put the collaborative app on more devices.
Yet Figma has had enough success in the market of collaborative whiteboard tools that Adobe wants to buy the company for $20 billion. While that deal appears to be in jeopardy due to regulatory concerns abroad, Figma’s interest in the iPad as a tool is clear and certain.
The company just dropped a new tool for iPad called FigJam that puts a Figma spin on the Freeform idea. FigJam is Figma’s whiteboarding space, introduced in 2021. Now the online whiteboard for teams is directly on the iPad.
Expand Expanding CloseTed Lasso finale event canceled amid Hollywood writers strike and series end speculation
Apple TV+ will stream the season finale of Ted Lasso on May 31, and the episode could very well be the series finale as far as anyone knows. A special screening event and panel was planned for the day before the last episode dropped, but that event has now been canceled.
Expand Expanding CloseFaster iPhone 15 wireless charging without limits likely powered by Qi2
A new rumor surfaced yesterday that claimed the iPhone 15 would open up fast wireless charging speeds to all 15W Qi chargers. Now a new report provides a likely explanation for how this will work.
Expand Expanding CloseArc browser brings MySpace-style customization to the web
Web browsers that aren’t Safari have long offered the ability to customize their look with themes. For example, the frame and buttons from Chrome and Firefox can look different with custom colors and other ways of personalizing their windows. Now Arc from The Browser Company wants to bring that same level of customization to the web.
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